Hi I have the same thing it is called tmj you must grind your teeth in your sleep what happens is all the cartlidge wears away in your jaw it hurts the more you are aware of it and stop doing it the better it gets

But it doesnt hurt my jaw, its painless, the only symptom is that annoying popping/cracking. Plus I don't grind my teeth.

Samara....I have the same exact thing....

It's painless but so annoying now. Someone please answer the question now.

Agreed. I've had ear cracking and jaw popping for about 8 months and it shows no signs of going away quietly. My right ear cracks randomly and i'm not even moving my jaw; when I actually move my jaw, then I occasionally experience popping.

Will someone please respond to this thread? :?

Hi, I ain't no doctor but it is to do with your sinuses and a difference in pressure between your inner and outer ear I think.

I used to get blocked ears very easily because of this but now I sometimes have bad sinuses in my nose (when it feels blocked but nothing is there...) and when you open your mouth you here a popping/cracking noise that sounds like two bones hitting each other. Sometimes it feels like your ears are blocked when they are in fact not.

Basically when you move your jaw it can alter the pressure in your inner ear and that is what causes the sound.

I used to have the problem solved by having a basic sinus nasal spray that is often used to treat symptoms of hay fever or allergies etc This should at least help the problem for you.

My jaw popping thing only developed recently (it used to just crack very loudly once in a while and then disappear for ages).. i stopped taking the nasal spray for a while because things got better. But the one I've just been prescribed isn't working as well as a different one i had before...

My doctor was also lousy and constantly said i must be allergic to something. But that is rubbish because I never get a runny nose or sneeze or am allergic to anything!

This sounds like a case of tmj---Very often it doesnt hurt but you can have poping and ear complications. Im moving this to the tmj forum so that you can get the help that you need. If you need anything feel free to contact me. Im the mod over there and will help you find any help that you may need. any questions just ask.

Hi i have the same problem too i dont know what to do, i went for an MRI and it does not show any problem or any tmj it looks like everything is right but i have the same problem in my right ear, also everytime i shake my head i hear something loose on my righ side of my head near the ear.

unfortunately when we have mri s or x rays--very often things look like they are ok. My xrays still show up clear. there are things that a dr.has to be really looking for in order to see it. thats what it was in my case.

Urbunbury---what symptoms do you have other than the symptoms that you listed--Please start your own thread and fill us in--we are happy to have you here with us.

The ears get effected by the tmj. The jaw joint effects the ears and the eustacian tubes. The eustacian tube has a muscle on it that spasms, and makes noise. The jaw muscles have a nerve that controls the eustacian tubes. My ears crackle, pop, buzz, and feel full. The feeling full is a referred type of thing. Its enough to drive a person crazy. CRAZY!!! dyan is right, alot of times an mri doesnt show everything. me too ?an mri showed up NOTHING and the xrays.Nothing, and it was something too. tmj

I found that with my tmj, it actually wasn't the popping and grinding that was painful. Also, my OMS (oral and maxillofacial surgeon) told me that unless you know what you're looking for, tmj is very easy to miss on an mri. So, unless the person reading your mri scan knew how to identify tmj, then chances are it may have been missed.

well and not only that mris are only about 20 percent accureate.

Can you please tell us more? Based on what material is such a drastic statement being made? Very interesting!

TMJ MRI's (had one done) clearly show the condyle and the disk position.
So there should be no problem identifying clinical signs given that there is disc displacement, or condyle issues.

your surgeon could tell you more. it stated that my discs were out of place with a lot of other things wrong--at surgery none of that was corect

Hmm what thats interesting, thanks for sharing this, as it explains why my OS kept insistin that the radiologist report was "conflicting" with what he is observing. Perhaps it should be stated that MRI and maybe even CT has a possibility to yield false positive or false negative results. I knew this was the case with nuclear bone scanning technology.

That makes me feel guilty why I took recent CT scan and exosed myself to more radiation.

ah dont feel guilty---heck even sonograms arent that accurate. one of my friends was supposed to be a boy---well she is not exactly a guy lol----yeah the 3rd surgeon that i went to observed me and the mri and said that it wasnt consistant with each other.

radiation--well if i have any brains left ill be lucky. i dont know how many x rays and mris and etc that i had in the last year. if im ok you should be fine--just let me know if you start growing another eye or anything strange. cause then ill have to look lol j/k

hello
im new here . i need your help
i just started to have some weird feelings..
my jaw doesn't exactly crack.. when opening a little more i hear a little sound and it kind of hurts my ear also a little.. i'm having my wisdoms tooth removed soon.. then will have to reposition my tooth that were moved because of the wisdoms..
my dentist is fully booked and he won't check that problem until i get a meeting which can be for like next month..
are there any things i should take or do to avoid this getting serious?
and how can this be fixed?

please let me know

thank you